New Truck – 1 ton or 3/4 ton?

Thinking about my truck situation now makes my head spin with the amount of them I have had over the years. I used to trade in about every 3 to 4 years. Currently have f150. Before that f350 diesel. Had that one for about 10 years and over 200,000 miles. Had 2 other 3/4 gassers (chev 2500 and f250) mixed in too. F350 was the best truck I ever owned. 6.4 powerstroke only had a few minor emission related issues. Although it seems others with the engine had more. I pulled fishouse and 20 foot fiberglass boat. And drove to work and kids sports etc as a daily driver. Not the best daily driver, but I made it work.

Here is my take….if in your position I would look for 1 ton diesel. But, you are oviously gonna be limited on inventory. Imo all the bigger HD trucks ride rougher than say an f150. But I honestly can’t tell the difference in 3/4 ton and 1 ton. Have ridden in plenty and realistically its not that bad, especially these new ones. With the amount of driving and pulling it seems you are gonna do diesel is preferred. Im not sure the price difference between a similarly equipped f250 and f350 persay, but the cost of tabs in the long run is gonna save you some cash.

Good luck and have fun. I wish I was in your position!!!👍

Matt

Just had an old time friend try to talk me down to a gasser 1 ton, had me on the line. Checked local inventory and they are even harder to find it seems. I really don’t have a lock on gas or diesel, so I guess I will see what I can find. Camper shopping tonight, so I will have a better idea of what we want to pull, might help in making the truck decision.

toddrun wrote:

Just had an old time friend try to talk me down to a gasser 1 ton, had me on the line. Checked local inventory and they are even harder to find it seems. I really don’t have a lock on gas or diesel, so I guess I will see what I can find. Camper shopping tonight, so I will have a better idea of what we want to pull, might help in making the truck decision.

I will say that if you do go gas do not buy a Ford 3/4 or 1 ton. I just got rid of my 2019 F250 and that thing was a dog. It struggled pulling anything unless you put it to the floor. Also experienced the infamous Death Wobble which almost killed me a couple of times, which Ford would do nothing to fix. I would definitely go diesel if you are going to be pulling all over the country. Also as others have stated if you live in MN go 1 ton to save on the tabs.

Thanks,
RVRDUX

toddrun wrote:

Just had an old time friend try to talk me down to a gasser 1 ton, had me on the line. Checked local inventory and they are even harder to find it seems. I really don’t have a lock on gas or diesel, so I guess I will see what I can find. Camper shopping tonight, so I will have a better idea of what we want to pull, might help in making the truck decision.

I have a 2014 Dodge 2500 with the Cummins motor. I also have a 2021 Ford F-350 with the 7.3 gas motor. I pull campers around the country for a company out of Indiana. I do not pull 5th wheel at this point. For me it came down to the cost difference to run gas vs diesel. If you can find them the diesels seem to run $10k more. The maintainence for the diesel if you don’t do it yourself is crazy. The cost of fuel seems to run .30 to .50 per gallon more than the gas.

I’m pulling with the gas truck. I have no illusions of getting more than 250,000 miles out of the motor. But even at that I think I will come out ahead with the gas truck. Time will tell.

If you want to buy a used diesel go to the RV Transport site on FB, seems a lot of guys are getting out of the business. Those trucks will be set up with everything you will need to pull.

The 21 Ford with the 7.3 gas motor is a great truck. We have 1 at our work and I love it. Way better then the 6.7 power stroke.
My next truck will be a ram 3/4 with the 6.4 gas

MotorHome and tow a small car? See that all the time.

I will say that if you do go gas do not buy a Ford 3/4 or 1 ton. I just got rid of my 2019 F250 and that thing was a dog. It struggled pulling anything unless you put it to the floor. Also experienced the infamous Death Wobble which almost killed me a couple of times, which Ford would do nothing to fix. I would definitely go diesel if you are going to be pulling all over the country. Also as others have stated if you live in MN go 1 ton to save on the tabs.

Thanks,
RVRDUX
[/quote]

Interesting, I thought that was only on a Ram which I experienced and it almost killed me and Dodge did nothing. The only way I got rid of it was to trade it in.

Eelpoutguy wrote:

I will say that if you do go gas do not buy a Ford 3/4 or 1 ton. I just got rid of my 2019 F250 and that thing was a dog. It struggled pulling anything unless you put it to the floor. Also experienced the infamous Death Wobble which almost killed me a couple of times, which Ford would do nothing to fix. I would definitely go diesel if you are going to be pulling all over the country. Also as others have stated if you live in MN go 1 ton to save on the tabs.

Thanks,
RVRDUX

Interesting, I thought that was only on a Ram which I experienced and it almost killed me and Dodge did nothing. The only way I got rid of it was to trade it in.

<div class=”ido-oembed-wrap”><iframe loading=”lazy” title=”Dodge Ram death wobble 05/07/2018″ width=”850″ height=”478″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/JrNY3TE-9a8?feature=oembed&#8221; frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture” allowfullscreen=””></iframe></div>
[/quote]

I thought that was a jeep thing.

Ford does that too, really any solid front axle rig will do that given the proper alignment and wear

I just have two comments. First, with the 5th wheel, if you plan on staying in the National Parks, be sure to check out max rig length. If you are larger than that, you may have to stay in private campgrounds outside of the parks.

Second, you see tons of Class A, C, Super Cs pulling a 1/2 ton truck as their tow vehicle. They are definitely pricey, but have their own benefits over pulling a trailer, too. So you can still have the truck in your tow vehicle that you want. And that truck can be your more comfortable daily driver around town than a stiff 1-ton.

In my fords i couldn’t tell the difference between the ride of the 250 vs the 350. If you are going fifth wheel go with the one ton. The empty trailer weight is only part of the equation because you will end up a lot heavier once you get your gear in, put water in the tank etc. It adds up quickly

mxskeeter wrote:

Don’t know about owning 3/4 vs 1 ton capability but it used to be if the trucks GVW was over 10k you had to have a Federal DOT number. Is that still a law on the books? 1 ton’s were all rated over 10k.

A DOT# is only required for commercial use. Mine is used on the farm and there is a “farm plate” available but if you get caught using it for anything other than the farm they can nail you for it. My plate says “Non Commercial” on it. Meaning I do not need a DOT# and I can use it for everyday use also. There are also consequences for having that plate and actually using it for Commercial use outside of Farm use.
I have both 3/4 ton and a 1 ton Ford Diesels. I pull heavy loads of hay with a gooseneck trailer. The 3/4 ton does the job just fine, however the 1 ton is a quite a bit more sturdy even though I have airbags on the 3/4 ton. A 3/4 ton would be perfectly fine on MOST campers. My 3/4 ton gets way better mileage than my 1 ton also. Duals would be a huge overkill in my opinion, especially when driving without the trailer hooked on. Whether you need a diesel is another question to address. Fuel is higher and they cost WAY more to maintain and repair. Not to mention the initial purchase cost. If you are not going to be “living ” on the go all the time and just using it now and then I would seriously consider a Gas engine.